Garnet Hill Ski Center Opens 2014

Garnet Hill Lodge had a Ski Shop Open House all weekend, with music and free skiing. On Friday after our drive to the mountains, we made some late day nordic turns on Upper Tailings, Old Faithful and Lift Line.

Rolled Trapper

Saturday Neve got her new gear through the annual GHL kids nordic gear exchange ($20/year) and we picked up our seasons passes. The girls headed back to the cabin to do some sledding. I was surprised they didn’t want to ski but I soldiered on, heading out solo towards the intersection of Trapper and 4H.

Like the day before, my intention was to check out the view from the Upper Tailings then head down 4H to Old Faithful. But also like the day before, after I enjoyed the view, as I skied past Lift Line… it sucked me in.

Untracked Everywhere

On Friday evening I dropped down Lift Line about halfway and then pulled up, to climb back up and join the girls on 4H.

This time I plummeted all the way to the bottom cranking wide leather-boot turns. When I got to the bottom I could see that Trapper Trail had just been re-rolled. First tracks in the late afternoon.

Down I went into the valley, sliding on untracked cordish sweetness. It was soft perfection, so nice to push through it on long, cambered skis.

Trapper Trail offers a nice drop to start, and then continues to descend more gradually over the better part of a mile. It lulls you into descending and eventually you either have to climb back up, or in-season, you can take a shuttle bus up the hill.

When I got to Cougar Run, I saw that it had also been groomed. I headed all the way up to the top, and then skied home along the edge of the road.

I didn’t see the ski report from Saturday, but Garnet Hill must have had 15 or 20k open, most of Trapper, much of Cougar, 4H, Old Faithful and I’m not sure what else. To open that much terrain on 12 inches of snow requires solid offseason trail work. It’s very cool to have one of the East’s top nordic centers in North River, NY.